1.   

Northeast to be made gateway of Southeast Asia: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday said the northeastern region of India would be made a gateway of Southeast Asia. The prime minister referred to the four colours in the Indian flag, and four revolutions which he looked forward to, including the second green revolution for agriculture, which should include a push for organic farming in northeast India. "White revolution for milk and animal husbandry, saffron revolution for energy development, including renewable energy development, and blue revolution for fisheries and marine development," he said.

2.   

EU may lift ban on import of Indian mangoes this month

The European Union is likely to lift the ban on import of mangoes and other vegetables from India this month, according to a senior government official. In April this year, the 28-member European Union had temporarily banned the import of Alphonso mangoes and four vegetables from India from May 1. "Recently, the EU's Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) team visited here to inspect our pack houses and other facilities, hope they will soon lift the ban from import of mangoes and other vegetables," Export Inspection Council of India director S K Saxena told PTI.

3.   

India joins hands with the US for agriculture, food security

India has entered into an agreement with the United States for cooperation in the field of agriculture and food security, Lok Sabha was informed today. Minister of State for Agriculture Sanjeev Kumar Balyan said the scope of areas of cooperation included in the MoU were science, technology, education, weather forecasting technology for crop management and market information. Farm-market linkages and private investment in agriculture, food security cooperation and nutrition are other areas where India and the US will cooperate with each other as per the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2010, Balyan said during Question Hour.

4.   

GDP rises 5.5 per cent in first half of fiscal

The GDP growth in the first half of the financial year, April-September, stands at 5.5 per cent as against 4.9 per cent in the corresponding period last year. The September quarter registered a growth of 5.3 per cent, show data released by the Central Statistics Office on Friday. Growth in government consumption expenditure during the quarter reflected in the pick-up in community and social services growth that surged from 9.1 per cent to 9.6 per cent.